


goldenbark apples

by feychella



Category: Not Another D&D Podcast (Podcast)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fruit Picking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:56:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24895780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feychella/pseuds/feychella
Summary: Moonshine and Jaina go fruit-picking.
Relationships: Jaina Bronzebeard/Moonshine Cybin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	goldenbark apples

**Author's Note:**

> Purely self-indulgent Moonshine/Jaina. I wrote this to the song "Honey" by Kehlani. 
> 
> Spoilers through episode 100.

Moonshine is already sitting up when Jaina blinks herself awake. Light filters through the breezy white curtains of their stump, floating torches going door to door to wake everyone up. The cries of youngins sound from outside, and Jaina even hears Lucanus yelling in the distance. _Probably something about his mana wyrm._ She shakes her hair and puts an arm under her head for support, looking up through her lashes at Moonshine. She’s wearing the Apple Scrumper jersey, from years ago, sheets wrapped around her waist.

Her wife sits over her, on their little bed, golden-brown blankets pooling around her legs as she kisses Jaina on the forehead. Moonshine’s reddish hair is loose, falling around her shoulders when she settles into their mountain of pillows, still propped over Jaina. The smell of rain and pine needles wafts towards Jaina as she swings her legs off the bed and buttons up her pajama top. _Time to get to work._ She had a long day of remaking stumps and learning to cook ahead of her. The thing is, she enjoyed being in the Crick, away from the rest of society, focused completely on improving herself with a group of like-minded individuals. A giant crash sounds from outside, followed by Cooter’s screeching. _Mostly like-minded._ Moonshine being there was a definite plus, of course.

“Where you goin’?” Moonshine drawls, crawling over to her and putting her arms around Jaina’s waist. _I can’t go now._ She leans back into her chest and sighs when Moonshine hugs her close from behind. “Not leaving me so soon after...you know. This ain’t no one night stand, sweetheart.” Her honeyed words set over Jaina, who closes her eyes and grunts. That first night with Moonshine had made her feel so safe...

“Then I’m not going anywhere.” Jaina smiles, kissing the tall crick elf’s neck. Moonshine closes her eyes with the action, then launches herself off the bed. “Where are _you_ going?” Jaina flops back onto the bed.

“Let’s make some breakfast and take the day off.”

“I’d like that.”

Moonshine grabs Jaina’s hand and drags her to the small kitchen just beyond their quaint living room. It was nothing like Irondeep, but then again, nothing here really compared to living in a mountain. Jaina wasn’t even sure if she wanted to return to Irondeep if she had the choice. Moonshine hums to herself as she braids her hair back, eyes still sleepy but determined. Jaina rests her head on her shoulder as Moonshine makes some eggs and stares out of the window over their stove. Little crick elves run outside, causing a ruckus and yelling in high-pitched voices. No, this was nothing like Irondeep. 

Pawpaw scrambles up to Jaina’s shoulder and she sets him down onto the wooden kitchen island. She boosts herself onto one of the two barstools at their counter and Moonshine serves her eggs with fresh fruit. 

“We’re runnin’ out of strawberries, it looks like,” Moonshine says, minorly distressed.

“Why don’t we go pick some later, then?”

“I like you.” Moonshine jabs her utensil at Jaina, who bites the strawberry off her fork, chewing victoriously. Her wife scoffs at her, before stabbing another strawberry and fitting the whole thing in her mouth. _So competitive._ Jaina winks and tosses the rest of her eggs to Pawpaw, saddled with a little bowtie, a gift from Beverly.

They finish breakfast together, talking and laughing as the early morning light fades into afternoon. Jaina gets dressed, reaching for her plate armor first, before realizing that she doesn’t need weapons to go strawberry picking. She sits down on the bed, hard. _This is unfair._ Her sister, Gemma, should be with her right now. Should be with...Hardwon, because as reckless as he is, he’s a good guy. He was so good to her. He was so good to Gemma. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tries to clear her head of Gemma’s smile and laugh; after a few moments, she grabs a basket and stomps out of the stump, Moonshine trailing behind her. 

The two of them walk hand-in-hand through the Crick, waving hello to Joe the Mayor, to Ol’ Cobb, to Hardwon and Mavrus as they pass their stumps. Eventually, they arrive at the Grandmother Tree. Jolene waves at them, holding onto Lucanus’ arm. Lucanus beams, a proud father, and winks at Jaina as the couple walks by. 

“I like your hair, Jaina!” calls Beverly from across the clearing. She smiles at him, patting his head and sending him off to the other Crickfolk. Moonshine tugs at Jaina’s loose hair and tangles her hands in it as she slams her against a tree for a kiss. 

"Mmmph! What was that for?” Jaina puts her hands on Moonshine’s waist, leaning back against the tree.

“I just love you.”

“Love you too. Are we getting any closer, Moon?”

“We’re here!” Moonshine bounces towards the rows of strawberries being grown.

To the east, a small apple orchard is growing, trees reaching up towards the sky. To the west, the swamp bubbles. The earth was soft on their bare feet as they pad through the aisles of the small berries. Soon enough, Jaina’s basket is filled with wild strawberries. Moonshine’s is still almost empty and Jaina looks around wildly before realizing that there’s a trail of leaves behind them. She leans up and kisses the surprised crick elf. Sure enough, she tastes like strawberries. Smirking to herself, she takes the basket from Moonshine, who wanders off towards the orchard. 

Once both baskets are full, she races over to where Moonshine is sitting at the base of a gigantic goldenbark apple tree. Her wife is crunching on the juicy apples, tossing one to Jaina, who almost drops her baskets of berries. Setting them down on the springy grass, she sits next to Moonshine, looking up and finding patterns between the branches of the trees. As she bites into the apple, her mouth is flooded with taste, sweet and bitter at the same time. These were her sister’s favorite apples. Melora, she missed her. Tears come to her eyes as she finishes the apple and tosses the core to the side, a little rougher than she’d meant to. The sweet aroma of the strawberries, the taste of the apple, everything about the Crick slams her full-force in the chest. She was here now, with her wife, and an entirely new life. To be honest, Jaina didn't think she would make it this far.

Jaina lays her head in Moonshine’s lap and stares up at the crick elf. _How’d I get here? How am I so lucky?_ Her partner strokes her hair absentmindedly, head tilted up to observe the sky. Birds hop from limb to limb and Jaina lets her eyes close, thinking about her sister and her wife and everything that's happened in the past few years. She’d confessed her love to Moonshine, they’d slept together, then Moonshine had left to fight Thiala. Jaina had spent nights up in their stump, waking up several times, worried for her girlfriend. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something horrible was happening, and she wasn’t there to protect Moonshine. Not that she needed protection. She felt so _powerless_...

When she wakes up, it’s early evening and her legs are draped around Moonshine’s waist as the elf carries her home. _Shoot._ She must've drifted off to sleep. Jolting up, she nearly knocks the two of them over. Hardwon waves to Jaina from where he’s sucking the brown out of the crayfish in the corner by Ol’ Cobb. She smiles sleepily before dropping her head back onto her wife’s shoulder. 

“Hey, sleepyhead…” Moonshine purrs as she sets Jaina down at the door of their stump, fumbling with the doorknob. Jaina leaps to help her with the baskets of fruit before stumbling inside. The couple laughs as they watch the youngins run around outside, stealing crayfish off the boilers. The sound of the fiddle picks up outside, and soon the crick elves are singing and eating and celebrating in their own rustic, beautiful way. Moonshine grabs Jaina's hands and they dance together in the small kitchen. Jaina puts her head on Moonshine's chest and sighs. She shuts her eyes and breathes in the scent of fresh fruit, the forest, and the lavender-scented evening. _This is home_ , she thinks to herself. Hardwon by the Crick, Lucanus and Jolene living nearby, Ol' Cobb's improv shows, and Moonshine. _This is home._ Moonshine's heart feels like it's beating in Jaina's chest as they sway together.

“I'm sorry I fell asl-” She breaks the silence between the two of them. Jaina knows that Moonshine's not mad at her. The sad look in Moonshine's eyes as she stares out of the window, lost in her own thoughts, breaks her heart. She's sorry for so much more - everything they've faced, alone or together, what's happened to the Crick, that the world is this way. She can't fix that. No one could. Moonshine looks back at her and the sadness fades.

“Don’t worry about it. There’s always tomorrow, love.”

 _There’s always tomorrow._ Jaina wasn't used to do-overs. She nods, breaking free of their dance, and cutting the fruit. She arranges the berries in little woven bowls for tomorrow's breakfast. Eventually, the nannerflies start buzzing outside, glowing intermittently. Jaina crashes into bed and Moonshine slings an arm around her waist, kissing her cheek. Jaina snuggles closer to her and stares at the grainy wooden ceiling. _I'm home._ Her eyes eventually close and she falls asleep in her wife's arms.


End file.
